Greeley police provided this photo of Acuna, and they say it is more than 10 years old.

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Greeley police are asking anyone with information about Paul Acuna to contact the department at (970) 350-9600.

Greeley police say the owner of a defunct funeral service is suspected of skipping town after defrauding customers and the state out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Paul Acuna faces more than a dozen theft and fraud charges, accused of stealing funds for senior citizens’ pre-paid funeral arrangements. Police say he also is accused of overcharging low-income families and falsifying documents to receive funds from the Weld County Department of Human Services. Acuna owned Paul’s Funeral Service and Cremation in Greeley, which closed in April.

Weld District Attorney Ken Buck said the total amount of money stolen could add up to as much as $50,000, but the emotional cost is devastating. “I think it’s really sad because these folks don’t have a lot of money,” Buck said. “They were trying to make sure their family members received a burial with dignity.”

Acuna, 44, offered customers the option to pre-pay for their funeral arrangements, but he didn’t have a license to do so, according to an arrest affidavit. The contracts with those customers indicated that he had insurance that would guarantee the services, and if his business went under, he would make sure another funeral home honored their payments.

The document states that four Greeley residents, two of whom are more than 60 years old, reported to police that they had pre-paid for funeral services but did not receive any notification when Acuna closed his business. They said they have not been refunded, and their payments have not been transferred to another funeral service.

Irene Silva, 65, said she and her husband Alfred Silva, 72, decided to make funeral arrangements because they wanted to ensure their funeral expenses don’t burden their children.

“We don’t want our girls to have to go through this,” she said.

Silva said they had started some arrangements with another funeral home, but they decided to make additional arrangements with Acuna because they knew him from church, and they thought he might be able to provide less expensive options.

“We trusted Paul,” she said. “We really trusted him.”

Silva said the couple made payments to Acuna starting in 2010 and totaling more than $5,000. She said they stopped getting receipts early this year, and Acuna did not return calls and was not at the business location.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Silva said. “We really don’t have the funds to (make more arrangements). We thought it was already done.”

Acuna is also accused of abusing a program within the county’s Department of Health Services that provides financial assistance on funeral costs to low-income families. Police say the program requires funeral homes to charge no more than $2,500 for services, but Acuna is accused of submitting false records on behalf of 10 families, overcharging the state by more than $12,000.

Acuna faces two counts of theft from an at-risk adult and two counts of theft, both felonies. He also faces 10 counts of forgery and another count of theft regarding his dealings with the state.

Greeley police say Acuna left Greeley after they began their investigation, and they believe Acuna might be living in the San Diego area.